SoCal Branch LEAF Gathering - Our First Year

[garygid]

I now have 10 SOC-Meter Kits available, 8 Blue and 2 Red.
See you tomorrow (Saturday)!

 

[hill]

Dang - something's come up so I can't go -

 

[Kataphn]

Hey, we missed you, Hill! We had a great group and lots of animated discussion as always.

 

[garygid]

About 14 people and at around 10+ LEAFs.

1. Would a "How to LEAF in Case I have to Drive" subject/session be of interest to the "other driver" in the LEAF family?

2. I usually make an attempt to include first-timers, strangers, or more timid attendees. However "S" asked if there might be interest in a "Ladies Auxiliary". Maybe those could have a special table, and discuss things more of interest to that group. Any interest?

3. Any interest in an SOC-Meter building Workshop?
Where could we meet to work?

 

[KeiJidosha]

An open invite for those interested;

The Electric Vehicle Association of Southern California (EVAoSC) meets 10am - noon on the third Saturday of each month at the Southern California Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) facility in Diamond Bar, CA.

SCAQMD
21865 Copley Drive
Diamond Bar, CA 91765

http://www.evaosc.org/

Meetings cover EV relevant issues, guest speaker presentations, and product demonstrations. Our recent presentations and previews include Bright Automotive, Balqon, Coda, Mitusbishi i-MiEV, Nissan LEAF, Peraves Monotracer e150, Brammo, Zero, AC Propulsion, Southern California Edison, and Plug-in America. Members and presenters include a broad band of research, engineering, manufacturing, conversion, support, and policy stake holders of influence in Southern California.

Our August 20th meeting will have Wally Rippel as the keynote speaker. An expert in EV propulsion research and development. I recommend the following as a primer and testimonial;

http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/induction-versus-dc-brushless-motors

The SCAQMD provides meeting space and 20+ EV parking spaces with charging infrastructure powered by their 200 kW solar array.

http://www.recargo.com/sites/806

A great place to meet your EV neighbors and fellow enthusiasts.

 

[JPVLeaf]

About 14 people and at around 10+ LEAFs.

It was good to meet up with the group again. Thanks, G, for being a great host/leader as always. I was sorry to have to duck out early as I needed to get back for the kids' swim class. I was enjoying the Leaf-talk so much so I lost track of time.

2. I usually make an attempt to include first-timers, strangers, or more timid attendees. However "S" asked if there might be interest in a "Ladies Auxiliary". Maybe those could have a special table, and discuss things more of interest to that group.

I'd be happy to participate in that.

3. Any interest in an SOC-Meter building Workshop?
Where could we meet to work?

If you cannot find a more centrally located spot, we could offer a pseudo-centrally located OC spot for this, perhaps with some carpooling from the northern folks. We can have work area/tables, a 240v outlet (or Rev2 EVSE), at least one 120v outlet, plenty of street parking ....

 

[JPVLeaf]

The SCAQMD provides meeting space and 20+ EV parking spaces with charging infrastructure powered by their 200 kW solar array.

http://www.recargo.com/sites/806

Thank you for the heads up on the meeting.

FYI, the upper parking structure deck at the AQMD is currently being resurfaced. The chargers located under the solar charge port area on the upper parking area are temporarily unavailable. Work began 8/8/11. The estimated date of completion is 9/16/11.

All the charging locations near the front entrance/lobby parking area, including the three ChargePoints, will remain available during this time.

http://carstations.com/1037

 

[garygid]

This thread has grown overly long.

Before our last Gathering (27 Aug) of our first full year of LEAF-Gatherings, I intend to start a new thread for at least the next 4 months of Gatherings and activities (Sep 2011 through Dec 2011). A new thread each trimester might be less ponderous than a single thread for the whole year ... but we can decide that near the end of December.

To administer the new thread, I think I will Create a new "socalbm" (SoCal Branch Manager) UserID for the purpose, that could easily be taken over by anybody willing to do the job.

Primarily, as the creator of the new thread (the UserID making the first post), the "socalbm" can then edit the first post, including the (date in the) Thread's Title (the title of the thread's first post).

Thoughts?

 

[Devin]

Thoughts?

There should be a new single thread for each event. Newcomers and those not active in the forum too much will be discouraged by the length of threads even if they are combined for only a handful of events. It's much easier to follow 1 thread = 1 event. For discussion about issues not related to logistics or scheduling of those events it should be in a "SoCal Group Discussion" thread or similar.

Perhaps a MNL event calendar through Google Calendar or similar would be a good idea? Events from around the country could be added including official MNL meet-ups, Nissan sponsored events, and environmental car shows (like AltCar or EDTA/EVS). Anything of particular relevance to the Leaf enthusiast.

 

[Kataphn]

I did hear from parking management at UCLA in response to my asking if the Lot 9 EVSEs were operational. I knew they were because I tried them but wanted to see what the official word was. He said you needed a chargepoint card. Not sure if this is true since it took VISA, MC, etc. $2 per hour for a charge. He said it is limited to 4 hours of charging but I don't know how they could enforce that. I waved my Chargepoint card at it but I had no money on it so it said it was valid but needed money. So I switched to Visa and it took that. Not sure what would have happened if I just used the Visa. Maybe someone who goes there can post about this. Also did they take the blue hoods off the units and un-cone the spaces?
Did anyone try to see if they will let you charge only and not have to pay to park, too? When I went to check out the stations last Friday evening, I just told the kiosk guy I was looking for the meters but did not plan to stay so he did not charge me and gave me an entry card.
Kat

 

[tbleakne]

I did hear from parking management at UCLA in response to my asking if the Lot 9 EVSEs were operational.>>
He said it is limited to 4 hours of charging but I don't know how they could enforce that.
Kat

I have had a few Chargepoint charging sessions terminate at round intervals, such as 1 hour. This leads me to believe they can be programmed with limits.

 

[tbleakne]

The Electric Vehicle Association of Southern California (EVAoSC) meets 10am - noon on the third Saturday of each month at the Southern California Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) facility in Diamond Bar, CA.

SCAQMD
21865 Copley Drive
Diamond Bar, CA 91765

http://www.evaosc.org/

Our August 20th meeting will have Wally Rippel as the keynote speaker. An expert in EV propulsion research and development.

This looks good. I will be there.

 

[tbleakne]

I have returned from my 5-day visit with my friends who have their vacation home at Lake Almanor, near Lassen Volcanic NP. The highlight of the trip was our visit to Big Springs Garden, a private mountain garden between Truckee and Lake Almanor.

http://www.bigspringsgardens.com/

 

[Kataphn]

Wow, Tom. What a beautiful place!

 

[tbleakne]

This thread has grown overly long.

Before our last Gathering (27 Aug) of our first full year of LEAF-Gatherings, I intend to start a new thread for at least the next 4 months of Gatherings and activities (Sep 2011 through Dec 2011). A new thread each trimester might be less ponderous than a single thread for the whole year ... but we can decide that near the end of December.

To administer the new thread, I think I will Create a new "socalbm" (SoCal Branch Manager) UserID for the purpose, that could easily be taken over by anybody willing to do the job.

I would add one suggestion to this plan: the "Regional Discussions" section has been getting quite busy. Despite all our activity, our thread sometimes does not make the first page. How about requesting "Regional Discussions" be split into multiple sub-sections, one per state, so we can find ourselves and state-related topics easier ?

 

[garygid]

Next Gathering (#12b) one week from today.

 

[gascant]

This thread has grown overly long.

Before our last Gathering (27 Aug) of our first full year of LEAF-Gatherings, I intend to start a new thread for at least the next 4 months of Gatherings and activities (Sep 2011 through Dec 2011). A new thread each trimester might be less ponderous than a single thread for the whole year ... but we can decide that near the end of December.

To administer the new thread, I think I will Create a new "socalbm" (SoCal Branch Manager) UserID for the purpose, that could easily be taken over by anybody willing to do the job.

I would add one suggestion to this plan: the "Regional Discussions" section has been getting quite busy. Despite all our activity, our thread sometimes does not make the first page. How about requesting "Regional Discussions" be split into multiple sub-sections, one per state, so we can find ourselves and state-related topics easier ?

The difficulty with starting new threads is alerting members who have the "Notify me when a reply is posted" box checked on the existing thread. If you have a separate email list server, you can send out a broadcast announcement to that effect. In order to have people avoid sifting through the entire thread, you could just edit the first post to say "Details of Gathering #12b are on page 88 of this thread".

 

[garygid]

I keep the first post of this thread updated with
the current/future/past meeting/Gathering locations/dates/times.

 

[haykinson]

I keep the first post of this thread updated with
the current/future/past meeting/Gathering locations/dates/times.

Have you considered moving the location around a bit over time? The Santa Ana location is 50 mi from where I live, and the Cerritos one is 35+. Unless there are chargers galore at a location, I feel a bit unsure about a choice of locations that either go beyond my range or involve almost fully depleting it at best...

 

[Kataphn]

I cannot make the Aug. 27 meeting I do hate to miss! I will try to find the condo EVSE thread to post pictures of our successfull installation of EVSE at our condo. This is a major victory. Robert, check it out and thanks to you and to all for your encouragement. I feel like I am now an "expert" on this issue!

Kat